


A Vow of Loneliness Overcome

by Merfilly



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/F, Loyalty, Relationship Negotiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:05:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5062246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the time between taking Brienne as her guard and before the awful news of her sons' supposed deaths, Catelyn and Brienne have a moment that sets their relationship more firmly on personal levels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Vow of Loneliness Overcome

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> Dear Sexghosts, I apologize for the build and tease. I hope it suits. Also, it's been a bit of time since I read those books; hopefully I didn't do anything glaringly out of canon.

"Do you ever find yourself reaching for something outside that which you know that you may have?"

Catelyn Stark's words landed like a blow to her chest. How frequently had that been Brienne's lot in life, to ever reach and ever fail in acquiring that which she wanted? 

"Lady, I believe I may understand that much," she answered cautiously, knowing that this woman was grief-riven by the madness gripping all of their lands. "I am, after all, myself." She rarely made mention or drew attention to her height, to her homely features, but in this moment, perhaps it would serve to protect her Lady from the wounds gnawing within her heart.

There was the smallest frown of displeasure at that, but then Catelyn relented with a sigh. "You cannot have had an easy life, Brienne," she acknowledged.

There was little to say to that, and the warrior, of late sworn to this woman, pushed herself to take a knee, for it seemed more correct in her heart.

"My Lady Stark," she said formally. "Ease of life is not that which I seek. I am, for some reason, gifted at arms beyond many men who dally in steel. In these dark days, as winter falls on us, it is only my wish to serve one whose heart is as noble in honor as I seek to be."

Catelyn made a tisking noise for the show of fealty, yet Brienne did not regret it in the least. It took Catelyn brushing her hand over Brienne's shoulder to make the woman look up at her lady, to see that the pledge, renewing her loyalty bond, had definitely moved Catelyn away from the jagged edge of her grief.

"Whatever shall I do with you?" Catelyn asked, almost fondly, and Brienne hazarded a smile for her. 

"Allow me to serve you faithfully, milady. I have no wish to be elsewhere, so long as the dangers walk the lands. Your son will call more to his side, yes, and I am certain he would see to your safety, but I feel it is my calling now."

"I have taken your pledge," Catelyn said firmly. "I shall not rescind that, for you and I are curiously bound now, Brienne. But you are a woman of noble birth as I am. You should not debase yourself to me." Catelyn motioned and Brienne obeyed, rising from the flagstones beneath her knee.

"I give you the honor of a guard to their liege, for that is my heart as well," Brienne told her stubbornly. "I do not understand the madness that has gripped all since the death of the King. I do not know which of all those who claim to be King now has the right of it, including your son, milady, but I find his heart less stone than my Lord Renly's brother, and less tainted by the madness the boy-king exhibits by all accounts. So I find that serving you is pleasantly aligned with finding a King I may conscience."

Catelyn took in a deep breath. "It is often the way of it, that women have no choice in such matters. Yet… here you and I are. I support my son both as a mother and because my heart demands that I do so, for I find the alternatives all the more horrific. I cannot conscience the murderer of my husband, nor do I find Stannis suitable. Renly might have been worthwhile… and I do grieve for your loss, Brienne, beside my own."

"You are a gracious lady." Brienne took a deep breath, looking northward. "Do you believe that Lord Stark will be swayed to turn his eyes to all of Westeros, as the rumors state now?"

Catelyn's mouth took a pinched look. "He'd be foolish to do so, Brienne. In our own lands, we can survive, we can repel any attempts to attack us, for the people are loyal to Stark there. But I hear the talk, and I can see the way they wish a King like Robb."

"I will hope, and pray even, that your son is as wise as his mother, and we soon set out for Winterfell." Brienne said the words to again move her lady from the spectre of the deaths still haunting her. She was unprepared for Catelyn placing a hand on her arm, then sliding it down to lightly clasp Brienne's fingers in her own.

"You bring me comfort, as I worry over my daughters and my sons." 

Brienne covered the hand on hers with her free one, and then nodded. "Somehow, we shall see you reunited to your daughters from their captivity in the south. And surely, even if Robb Stark chooses to press his war in that direction, he will regroup to Winterfell first, to secure his lands properly, and see you to your sons there!"

Catelyn listened to those bold, brave words, ones that reverberated in her heart, and Brienne could see the effect. The strong, proud Lady of Winterfell, a Tully in every fiber of her being, broke for just a moment, giving her trust to Brienne by being vulnerable in this moment.

Brienne swiftly stepped forward, offering her broader chest as a leaning wall, even as she felt awkward and at a loss. All she knew was that her lady was not supposed to cry, not allowed to be seen in this weakness by any other… and that she had to find a way to protect her lady from it.

With some hesitation, as Catelyn leaned in, letting silent tears trace her features, Brienne brought her arm around the woman, lending what comfort she could. It made something in the warrior ache, to see the pain, to feel it shaking Catelyn, and she wondered just how one fought off the pains of the soul.

How long they stood that way, Brienne could not say. But at last, Catelyn straightened, procuring a kerchief to wipe her face clean, and then she tipped her face up to her protectress. 

"Thank you."

Brienne wondered just what the gratitude was for, but only for a moment as Catelyn stepped up and pressed a light kiss against Brienne's startled lips to seal it.

"You give me hope that it might just work as you say, for your conviction blazes through," Catelyn told her after that brief kiss. "I pray that your presence is ever close to me, to keep alive my own fires of belief."

Brienne had no words, reaching up to touch her lips lightly, still puzzled, and the action made Catelyn actually laugh. Nor was it the mocking sound that Brienne had been too familiar with all her life. Instead, it was gentle and … tender?

"My faithful one," Catelyn said in a soft voice. "Did I presume too far, at the baring of your heart in your fealty oath to me?" she questioned.

Brienne shook her head, as everything shifted into points she understood. "Milady, all that I am is yours."

"Then I ask you to stay close, for I am a woman much and long married, who finds the night lonely now, and frightening," Catelyn said, bold and firm of with intentions.

Was this the destiny that Brienne of Tarth had seen for herself when she'd gone to pledge arms? Perhaps, but then it had been a Lord, not a Lady.

Yet, in Catelyn, there was something more intense than even that which had been kindled by Lord Renly.

"I shall only part from you by your own order," Brienne promised, as her hand reached for Catelyn's… and was taken.

The kiss that came next was as much a vow as any Brienne had uttered to her Lady in the time since they had met, and one neither wished to break, as their lonely hearts found a new home within one another's.


End file.
